Dietrian, barely recovered from the shock, urgently asked.
“You’re pregnant? With my child, our child?”
“How many times do I have to say it?”
Leticia, tears welling up, looked at Dietrian reproachfully.
“Yes! I am carrying your child! Do you know how scared I have been? How lonely I felt? How much I missed you! And now you say you’re going to leave me? That we should die together?”
It was strange. Emotions were wildly out of control, disturbingly so.
“You even ask why I got pregnant? How can you say that as someone who’s going to be a father! Did I make the baby all by myself?”
Actually, there was no reason to blame Dietrian. Even knowing this, her small fists pounded on his chest.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Why are you just staring at me blankly? Aren’t you happy? Do you still find the idea of a child burdensome? Is that it?”
Upon hearing the news, he should have smiled broadly and felt happy. But his ambiguous expression made her uneasy. That unease turned into sadness and poured out.
“Yes! Of course, it’s burdensome! But you have to accept it. I was scared at first too, but I endured. Even if it’s not the right time, now that the child has come to us…!”
At that moment, Dietrian suddenly pulled her into a hug. Her fragile body collapsed backward as if unable to withstand it.
“Diet…?”
Before she could gather her thoughts, her lips were swallowed in a kiss. Leticia’s eyes widened. She felt the heat from their touching lips. At first, she was startled, but she quickly calmed down. She didn’t understand why he was doing this, but the kiss felt good.
Unconsciously, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. It had once been her dream to spend a month alone with him behind locked doors. She couldn’t dislike his intense desire for her.
“Dietrian?”
Their lips parted for a moment. Leticia, breathing shallowly, flinched. Dietrian, cupping her cheek, kissed her face all over.
“Dietrian, why.”
“Just stay still. Just for a moment.”
He sounded desperate. It was the first time he had been so disheveled since the incident in the office. Though it was bewildering, it felt good. Every time he touched her, her resentment melted away. He spoke.
“If you stop me now, I think I might really die. Just give me a moment.”
His voice was slightly cracked. Leticia flinched. Simultaneously, Dietrian’s lips gradually moved downward. Her blushing neck, white nape, round shoulders, and small hands. He didn’t stop kissing and caressing every visible spot. Then, he hugged her tightly again. And silence. Leticia couldn’t speak easily either.
“You are so beautiful, I’m going crazy. I’m so happy, I feel like I could die without any regrets.”
Dietrian quickly added.
“Of course, I don’t mean I’ll really die. I don’t want you to scold me again.”
Still holding her, Dietrian chuckled. The pleasant vibrations transmitted through their touching bodies gradually made her feel more real. Her green eyes filled with clear tears. Leticia asked in a trembling voice.
“Are you really happy?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you really… happy? Are you sure you’re happy?”
“Of course.”
“You’re not lying to comfort me?”
“Haha. Lying? No way.”
Dietrian let out a soft laugh. He then released his embrace and looked down at Leticia. She swallowed hard at his spotless, bright smile. His dark eyes, filled with nothing but affection for her, made her feel like a star reflected in them. Her sparkling image seemed to say that this man was sincere. He truly was happy about her pregnancy. Perhaps because her tension had eased, tears welled up again. Sniffling, Leticia whimpered for no reason.
“You should have said that from the beginning. You scared me!”
“I thought it was a dream. It’s too perfect.”
He gently wiped away her tears and pressed his cheek against hers.
“It’s the same for you, right? Because you can now give a family to someone who’s been lonely their whole life. That’s why you’re happy, isn’t it?”
“Ah.”
Leticia closed her eyes tightly.
Why was he acting like this today? She tried to hold back her tears, but his words kept triggering them. He was right. She wanted to give a family to someone who had been profoundly lonely in their past life.
That’s why she couldn’t reveal her love for him before. She, cursed as she was, could never fulfill that dream. Her heart ached. Even thinking about his last moments as the principality fell still pained her. She thought that pain was hers alone to bear, as she was the only one who remembered the past. In the past, present, and future, she believed it would always be so. But she was wrong.
“Thank you for coming to my side, in this life and the last, Leticia.”
Dietrian remembered everything. She no longer had to bear the burden of their painful past alone. This realization brought Leticia immense comfort.
“Thank you for becoming my family and giving me a new one. I swear I will never leave you alone again.”
“Stop making me cry!”
Leticia, now in tears again, pounded on his chest. Dietrian chuckled and hugged her tightly.
“Thank you so much, Leticia.”
“…Me too, thank you.”
Despite her tearful state, Leticia nodded eagerly. She wanted to tell the baby in her belly that they heard their father’s words, that they were the happiness of all of them, and that she couldn’t wait to meet them.
Happiness swelled within her like a balloon. It swelled so much that she felt like she could float away if she held onto it.
After a while, Leticia stopped crying. The two of them held each other, sharing their warmth. It was like the first time they kissed, the first time they made love, the first time they shared the truth, and the time everything on his office desk spilled over…
She thought there could be no more perfect moment than this. But she was wrong. There was a more radiant and ecstatic joy, a moment so perfect just because it existed.
“Does anyone else know?”
“No.”
Leticia shook her head.
“Only Kailas knows. I wanted to tell you first.”
“I’ll let the Wings know immediately. They will be very happy.”
“Okay.”
Saying that, Leticia snuggled deeper into his arms. At this moment, she wanted to think only of Dietrian. After being in his embrace for a long time, Leticia looked up at him. As she stared at him intently, Dietrian playfully asked.
“Is there something on my face?”
“Do you think the baby… will look like you?”
“What?”
“When I see you smile…”
Leticia’s cheeks flushed slightly. Lowering her gaze a bit, she spoke.
“I think it would be nice if the baby looked like you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re handsome…”
Dietrian paused at her sincere and shy confession. Then he let out a quiet, breathy laugh. He had gotten used to Leticia’s surprise attacks; otherwise, it could have been dangerous. He might have lost his reason and desired her greedily. Dietrian composed himself as best he could.
‘No matter how much I love her, I have to restrain myself for now.’
Leticia was in the early stages of pregnancy. She absolutely shouldn’t overexert herself.
‘I have to be careful, very careful.’
He had heard that women with weak bodies might miscarry if they overexerted themselves early in pregnancy. Yulken’s wife had also experienced bleeding in early pregnancy and had to rest until the stable period.
Fortunately, Leticia seemed healthy. It was probably due to the healing powers Kailas had used on her. While relieved, he also felt a pang of pity.
‘To think she had to endure all sorts of hardships in a foreign land at such a crucial time.’
He wished he could take her hand and return to the principality immediately. But there was still work to be done, so he couldn’t.
‘Moreover, I too have things I must do.’
The radiant joy was now overshadowed by the weight of reality. Dietrian embraced her shoulders to hide his expression and fell into thought. He recalled Sigmund’s words.
“Dietrian, your choice will influence the awakening of the last wing. It could either help or hinder the awakening.”
He hadn’t said who the wing was.
“This is all I can tell you. I’d like to say more, but I can’t use all my power for the prophecy.”
“If I use all the power I have left, I won’t be able to endure the most crucial moment.”
“I still have something important to do. I’ve been preparing for years to reverse that child’s fate.”
“It won’t be easy to correct what’s already been twisted.”
“Even if my vision isn’t perfect, don’t worry too much.”
“If you continue to do your best as you are now, the day will come when you’ll naturally know what to do.”
Soon after, another vision of the future unfolded in his mind. A room filled with decorations he’d never seen in the principality. Leticia was sitting there, looking worried. Noel held her hand and spoke.
“His Highness will return soon. Please don’t worry too much, Leticia.”
That was all. It didn’t show where he had gone, what he was doing, or why he hadn’t returned.
‘In any case, it means I’ll have to leave Leticia’s side again to find the ninth wing.’
Dietrian closed his eyes. He had been avoiding Leticia all this time because of that future.
‘But a child…’
Leticia was pregnant.
‘So, even knowing she’s carrying my child, I’ll have to leave her side?’
He still felt an immense happiness, as if he had the whole world. But he couldn’t ignore the weight of reality. As time went on, that weight would only grow heavier.
‘Still, just for today.’
Dietrian tried to shake off his worries and hugged Leticia even tighter.
As a father, just for today. He decided to savor this happiness to the fullest.
